


Back so soon?

by gh0st1nn1t



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 16 Year Old Ben Hargreeves, 16 Year Old Klaus Hargreeves, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Character Death, Depressing as hell, Ghost Ben Hargreeves, Hurt Ben Hargreeves, No Incest, Not Beta Read, Sick Klaus Hargreeves, This Is All About Bens Death Sorry, This Is How I Believe Klaus Found Out About Bens Death, We Die Like Ben, its angsty, they're kids in this, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:34:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25717363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0st1nn1t/pseuds/gh0st1nn1t
Summary: After Klaus injures himself, he's stuck on bedrest while the others go on missions. On one fateful day, Ben shows up in his doorway, shivering and shaking, and Klaus makes a shocking discovery.Or, my headcannon on how Klaus found out about Bens death.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, That Means Platonically
Comments: 8
Kudos: 209





	Back so soon?

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a prompt about how Klaus would miss out on a mission and Ben would show up and Klaus would just assume Ben got home early before he realised Ben was dead and that basically inspired this whole thing.
> 
> Possible Content Warnings :  
> -Ben's death [Not graphic, just mentioned]  
> -Klaus has a glass of alcohol underage  
> -Very angsty

Klaus sunk into his pillows and silently thanked whoever was up there that he had been excused from the latest mission. Well, less excused and more banished to his room grudgingly. Some assholes had broken into a shopping centre and the others had been sent over there to fight. Apparently there were over 50 armed robbers, but he had been struggling to walk, so they decided to leave him out of this one. Klaus, luckily, had fallen down the stairs a week before, and half-broke his ankle and fractured his hip, so Reginald had scoffed and sent him upstairs, demanding he figured something out to attend the next mission. Klaus, however, had broken into the liquor cabinet (seriously, why didn't old Reggie keep a lock on it? He knew Klaus broke into it often) and had been laying in bed for hours, staring up at the chipped paint of his ceiling.

Honestly, it had been pretty boring, just laying there, but he didn't have the patience to read, didn't have a TV in his room, didn't have any activities to do, nothing. His music had been confiscated, due to Reginalds beliefs of 'If you demand to rest, then you will rest, not have fun'. Which, by the way, Klaus thought was bullshit. He knew that Reginald was aware that he used the headphones to block out the ghosts, and he knew Reginald was basically trapping him in a room alone with ghosts as his own sort of sadistic punishment for Klaus getting himself injured. At least the glass of vodka he kept swirling in his hand blocked out the ghosts...mostly. There were a few still scattered around his room, but as he continued to drink, they became more and more invisible. 

The only hint of ghosts in his room were the flames on his candles were flickering angrily, despite there being no wind coming in. But that was easily ignored, if Klaus just didn't look.

As Klaus' eyes raked over his room, he noticed through the small gap in the door someone was standing outside of it. At first, he had expected it to be Grace, to remind him to take the painkillers, or Reginald, scolding him about his laziness. He hadn't even considered the possibility of it being Vanya, as she had been banned from talking to Klaus while he was on bedrest. Then he noticed the ripped black jeans, and he recognised it as Ben's clothes.

Eager for some sort of distraction, he practically threw it open, finding no one but his brother stood there, shaking slightly. Though, for Klaus, his entire vision was shaky, so that detail flew right past him.

"Benny! Hey! What are you doing back here so early?" Klaus asked, slurring his words slightly as an easy grin slipped over his face. The mission must have finished earlier than expected and Ben had shown up to tell him all about it. That was what Ben had done when Klaus had his jaw wired shut and couldn't go on the missions.

Ben had stayed silent, shivering slightly, as he refused to meet Klaus' eyes, shoulders hunched. 

"You okay buddy?" Klaus asked, noticing how something was...off about his brother. He set down the almost-empty glass of vodka on the nearest surface- his dresser, and reached out to put a hand on Ben's shoulder, only for his brother to step away. "Sheesh, whatever happened on that mission to send you back so soon must've been bad. You look like you've seen a ghost! Pun fully intended," Klaus winked, gesturing to the barely visible shadows of the ghosts who filled his room. 

Ben was still quiet, crossing his arms as he bit his lip, still looking down at the floor as he scuffed his shoes against the wood. 

Klaus was beginning to get concerned. Ben was never quiet, and he never acted so quiet. He waved a hand in front of Ben's face, a drunken attempt to get Ben to meet his eyes. "Benny boy! Benster! Bennerino! Benthony!  _ Hellooooo _ ? You good man?"

"Klaus..." Ben muttered, his voice rough and scratchy, sounding almost terrified, "Something bad happened."

Klaus threw his arms up, "He speaks!" He sat down on his bed, patting the space beside him for Ben to take a seat. Ben obliged, and Klaus didn't notice how the bed didn't dip underneath him, or how it got colder when Ben met his eyes. Then he noticed Ben shivering with tears in his eyes, and suddenly he felt as sober as he was as a kid. "Hey, hey, hey, no, no, buddy, don't cry, it's okay, whatever happened, I'm sure they'll forgive you! You're Ben frickin' Hargreeves, you can't do anything bad!" 

Ben fidgeted slightly, playing with the ends of his leather jacket. He had rebelled by refusing to wear the uniform, settling for a loose black hoodie and a leather jacket. Reginald hadn't wanted Ben to stop going on missions, as he was the best one for 'getting rid of any left over people' so he scoffed and allowed it. Klaus had high fived him, joking about how Ben would turn into him if he kept rebelling. "No, no, Klaus, you don't- you aren't understanding. I think...I think something happened to me," Ben finally spoke, eyes glued to the ugly rug.

"What do you mean?" Klaus asked, feeling his blood run cold. 

Ben gulped, turning his head to meet Klaus' eyes. "I think- I think I'm dead."

The room grew deadly silent, as Klaus' entire body froze. "No-no, you can't be dead, how?" He raked his hands through his hair, which he had been growing out simply to spite Reginald. The one mission Klaus missed out on, and his brother  _ died _ ? He'd already lost Five, he couldn't bear to lose Ben too.

"I don't- I don't know, I just," Ben broke off, inhaling shakily, "I was sent to...take care of the rest of the robbers, and I just remember the monsters being so  _ so _ angry and when I tried to make them stop it just wouldn't work and they  _ kept going and kept going _ and no matter what I tried I couldn't get them back in and once they finished with the robbers, I guess they just- they just turned on me instead," Ben ranted, unable to stop once he started, trembling violently as tears threatened to spill.

Klaus hadn't said a word, or done anything other than stare blankly at the wall ahead. He had a hard time processing emotions, and learning that the brother he had been glued to the side to for 16 years had died, only 3 years after one of his other brothers had disappeared had not helped. He gulped, hands clenched into fists. A chill ran over his body as Ben’s words finally settled in.

He knew how vicious the monsters Ben held inside of his gut were. He knew how angry and violent they could get, and for them to murder him? Klaus knew that had to have been a gruesome, agonising way to go. Ben was clearly in shock still, most likely from literally being torn apart limb-from-limb by the interdimensional creatures he kept in were.

"So- so you're... you're actually dead. That's- that's two brothers gone," He laughed bitterly, standing back up abruptly (ignoring the shooting pains travelling from his foot all the way to his ribs) and grabbed his glass of vodka, downing the remains. He rubbed his hands over his eyes, trying to conceal the tears that had spilled down his cheeks.  _ Ben was the one that died,  _ he told himself,  _ you don’t get to be the one who's upset _ . He slammed his hands onto the dresser. "I'm too fucking sober for this."

"Klaus..." Ben stood up, placing a hand on Klaus' shoulder only for it to fall right through, making Klaus shiver. 

"I'm sorry, Ben, I know- I know you just  _ died _ , and I'm being selfish, it's just- what am I supposed to do?" 

Ben stayed silent. 

Klaus heard the door downstairs slam shut, and footsteps approaching his room. Allison was stood there, face solemn as she began speaking, not noticing how Klaus already had bloodshot eyes and smeared tear tracks on his cheeks. "Klaus- I don't- I don't know how to tell you this, but, I thought you might want to hear it from me and not from Dad, but Ben-" she broke off, hiccuping, "Ben-"

"Died," he finished for her, face blank. "I know. I heard. He told me."

Allison scoffed. "Klaus, our brother just died and you're still trying to grab the spotlight?" She scrubbed at her eyes, storming off, leaving a defeated Klaus and a surprised Ben.

"Are they always like this?" Ben asked, looking down at Klaus as he flopped face-first onto the bed. 

"Mm."

"They do realise you literally talk to the dead?"

"Yep."

"Shit," Ben breathed out. Within the same fifteen minute span, he had died, and then found out his siblings, who he looked up to, were ignoring and rejecting his brother. There was a tense silence, before Ben tried to lighten the mood. "I just realised I'm stuck you with for life."

Klaus let out a watery laugh, turning over to face the ceiling, giving Ben a weak smile, "You got that right."


End file.
